On Monday, the Dow edged back by less than 0.1% from Friday's record close (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-poised-to-stretch-out-historic-record-run-as-upbeat-mood-persists-2018-01-08), while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both finished at fresh all-time highs.

The three equity benchmarks have gained between 21% and 29% over the past 12 months, supported by factors such an expanding global economy, growth in corporate profits and enthusiasm over the Trump administration's tax cuts.

What could drive markets?

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The upbeat sentiment that has kept the 2017 global stock rally running into the new year still has a grip on the market. Fresh data out Tuesday could give a lift to or dampen that enthusiasm.

A December figure for small-business confidence showed a dip to wrap up the strongest year on record (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/small-business-sentiment-dips-at-end-of-strongest-year-on-record-nfib-2018-01-09). At 10 a.m. Eastern Time, a November report on job openings and labor turnover is due to arrive.

On the Federal Reserve front, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is slated to take part in a panel discussion at 10 a.m. Eastern at the suburban Minneapolis headquarters of conglomerate Cargill Inc.

What are strategists saying?

"There is very little for markets to be taking too much notice of in the economic calendar today. The only real interest comes in the U.S. JOLTS jobs openings," said Richard Perry, a Hantec Markets analyst, in a note Tuesday.

Shares in Intel Corp.(INTC) traded flat after CEO Brian Krzanich delivered a speech at CES late Monday. He detailed advances in virtual reality and other technologies, while also addressing the dark cloud hanging over chip makers (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intel-ceo-notes-dark-cloud-of-concern-at-ces-moves-onto-a-vision-for-the-future-2018-01-09).

What are other assets doing?

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-rise-for-5th-session-in-a-row-stay-at-highest-since-2015-2018-01-09) were gaining ground, and most Asian markets closed higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-continue-their-early-year-rally-2018-01-08). Oil futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-extend-recent-gains-hint-at-fresh-3-year-highs-2018-01-09) added to their recent advance, but gold futures were pulling back. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was modestly higher.